New laws slow flow of professional workers

As the national immigration debate wages on, many people fear increasingly restrictive policies will cripple U.S. companies and universities competing in the global marketplace, encouraging talent and capital to go abroad.

Critics who are mainly concerned with undocumented and low-skilled workers moving into the United States say increased worksite enforcement and unprecedented statewide immigration statutes are deterring illegal immigrants from crossing U.S. borders.

Others complain that the country's growing emphasis on closing the borders is keeping out needed university professors and skilled professionals.

"There are very significant shortages of available talent around the country. If you can't find the talent, you either do one of a few things: You bring the talent in from overseas; you take the work overseas or you don't get the work done,” said Jeff Lande, senior vice president of the Information Technology Association of America. "Thanks to the way the country is handling immigration, companies are forced to take options two or three.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, foreign-born professionals and students have faced intense scrutiny and been routinely denied working papers — a trend that led the group to file two lawsuits against the federal government, the Association of American University Professors said.

In the private sector, Microsoft Corp. opened a division in Canada last year. Corporate officials said immigration snafus had made recruiting and retaining skilled talent in the U.S. nearly impossible.

In fields such as information technology, research and development, science and finance, the skilled worker shortage in the U.S. has become critical, experts said.

At the University of Oklahoma alone there are 59 nonresident aliens and 99 legal permanent residents working as professors. Of 73 new faculty coming to the university in the fall, 12 will be nonresident aliens. There are 13 additional professors working under the highly controversial federal H-1B visa program, a working visa for skilled professionals.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, foreign-born professionals have contributed about $50 billion to the nation's economy and helped create about 500,000 jobs as of 2005.

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